The Focus provides links to articles collected from major newspapers and magazines, and is emailed weekly.This Week in Atheism is a cable show that discusses the articles featured below, every Wednesday at 6:30 PM (EST), Manhattan Cable station 57. Live streaming is available at: http://www.mnn.org.

The Center for Atheism (CFA) was established by the New York City Atheists as a separate and independent national organization to propose, develop, and be a catalyst for new national activities supporting the objectives of atheists, agnostics, humanists, freethinkers, skeptics, secularists and separation-of-church-and-state advocates.

CFA will accept and review suggestions from individuals and other secular organizations that will foster our goals.

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FEATURED ARTICLES

Religion, politicians fiery combo in LancasterLos Angeles Daily NewsFriday, a representative of Americans United for Separation of Church and State condemned the comments by officials of Lancaster, a largely conservative ...http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_14299299

'Free Thought' club finds opposition on campusWeb DevilAs the president of ASU's only atheist religious organization, Joshua Horn has learned that not all campus groups value “free thought” as highly as his does ...http://www.statepress.com/node/10439

Jupiter's Moons: Explanation for the Differences Between Ganymede and CallistoScienceDaily (Jan. 31, 2010) — Differences in the number and speed of cometary impacts onto Jupiter's large moons Ganymede and Callisto some 3.8 billion years ago can explain their vastly different surfaces and interior states, according to research by scientists at the Southwest Research Institute appearing online in Nature Geoscience Jan. 24, 2010...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100124162151.htm

Levitating Magnet May Yield New Approach to Clean EnergyScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2010) — A new experiment that reproduces the magnetic fields of the Earth and other planets has yielded its first significant results. The findings confirm that its unique approach has some potential to be developed as a new way of creating a power-producing plant based on nuclear fusion -- the process that generates the sun's prodigious output of energy...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100124162153.htm

NASA's Mars Rover Spirit Starts a New ChapterScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2010) — After six years of unprecedented exploration of the Red Planet, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit no longer will be a fully mobile robot. NASA has designated the once-roving scientific explorer a stationary science platform after efforts during the past several months to free it from a sand trap have been unsuccessful...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100129221050.htm

Black Hole Hunters Set New Distance RecordScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2010) — Astronomers using ESO's Very Large Telescope have detected, in another galaxy, a stellar-mass black hole much farther away than any other previously known. With a mass above fifteen times that of the Sun, this is also the second most massive stellar-mass black hole ever found. It is entwined with a star that will soon become a black hole itself...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100127095920.htm

First Study to Show That Seismic Imaging Detects Ocean's Internal TidesScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2010) — Internal tides, waves below the ocean's surface that propagate at tidal frequencies, play an important role in ocean mixing but can be difficult to detect and study...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100121163915.htm

NASA Airborne Radar Studies Haiti Earthquake FaultsScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2010) — In response to the disaster in Haiti on Jan. 12, NASA has added a series of science overflights of earthquake faults in Haiti and the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola to a previously scheduled three-week airborne radar campaign to Central America...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100129221201.htm

Does Slum Tourism Make Us Better People?ScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2010) — Slum tourism is a growth industry with more and more wealthy travellers opting to visit the poorest parts of the world. What is it that is prompting slum tourism? Is it a new trend? What impact does slum tourism have on the people who opt for this kind of 'holiday'? Do they become better people as a result and does the experience prompt a call to action for social change...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100128142349.htm

Dinosaur Discovery Helps Solve Piece of Evolutionary PuzzleScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2010) — A George Washington University expedition to the Gobi Desert of China has enabled researchers to solve the puzzle of how one group of dinosaurs came to look like birds independent of birds. The discovery extends the fossil record of the family Alvarezsauridae...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100128142135.htm

Losing Sleep, Losing Brain?ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2010) — Chronic and severely stressful situations, like those connected to depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, have been associated with smaller volumes in "stress sensitive" brain regions, such as the cingulate region of the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, a brain region involved in memory formation...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100127095914.htm

Organic Transistor Paves Way for New Generations of Neuro-Inspired ComputersScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2010) — For the first time, CNRS(1) and CEA(2) researchers have developed a transistor that can mimic the main functionalities of a synapse(3). This organic transistor, based on pentacene(4) and gold nanoparticles and known as a NOMFET (Nanoparticle Organic Memory Field-Effect Transistor)...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100125122101.htm

Stem Cell Breakthrough: Bone Marrow Cells Are the AnswerScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2010) — Using cells from mice, scientists from Iowa and Iran have discovered a new strategy for making embryonic stem cell transplants less likely to be rejected by a recipient's immune system. This strategy, described in a new research report appearing in the February 2010 print issue of The FASEB Journal, involves fusing bone marrow cells to embryonic stem cells...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100128091752.htm

'Overweight' Adults Age 70 or Older Are Less Likely to Die Over a 10-Year PeriodScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2010) — Adults aged over 70 years who are classified as overweight are less likely to die over a ten year period than adults who are in the 'normal' weight range, according to a new study published in the Journal of The American Geriatrics Society...http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/01/100128091740.htm

SENATOR MARK LENO INTRODUCES BILL TO PROTECT RELIIGIOUS FREEDOM IN PROP 8 ...SanFranciscoSentinel.comThe bill reaffirms the separation of church and state and codifies in California law that no member of clergy will be required to solemnize a civil marriage ...http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=58533

Mount Diablo name-change advocate takes seat on county drug panelSan Jose Mercury News"You need an advocate, and you need help." Critics of the Mount Diablo name change have accused him of ignoring the separation of church and state, he said...http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_14319322

Obama, members of Congress urged to boycott Thursday prayer breakfastAmerican Chronicle"But we want them to uphold the First Amendment separation of church and state and avoid the appearance of officially endorsing a particular religion or ...http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/139784

Bible Could Be Coming To Public High SchoolsKTULThe head of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State says he sees some merit to the idea, but only if teachers are trained to teach the ...http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0210/702606.html